Giants keep looking after Marlins deal outfielder Ozuna to Cardinals

Updated 7:51 pm, Wednesday, December 13, 2017

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Less than a week after the Yankees prevailed over the Giants and Cardinals and got Giancarlo Stanton, Miami and St. Louis reached agreement on a deal for the second-biggest piece of Derek Jeter’s fire sale.

On Wednesday, the final full day of the winter meetings, the Marlins agreed to trade power-hitting left fielder Marcell Ozuna to the Cardinals for a package of minor-leaguers.

Ozuna would have fit the Giants perfectly, but they could not offer the Marlins an equivalent of Sandy Alcantara, a 22-year-old pitcher who throws 100 miles an hour and will be the biggest part of Miami’s haul from St. Louis.

“We knew pretty much very early on after the Stanton deal was announced that we were going to have a hard time competing with what the Cardinals had on the table when Ozuna became available,” Giants general manager Bobby Evans said.

While Giants officials continued to weigh a vast array of trade and free-agent possibilities, as they have since they arrived at the Swan and Dolphin Resort on Sunday night, their chances of filling one of their many needs before flying back to San Francisco grew slimmer.

Evans did reveal the Giants are “actively pursuing” a free-agent deal with Nick Hundley, their backup catcher and Willie Mac Award winner in 2017, “and we hope we can get that done at some point.”

Marlins left fielder Marcell Ozuna is going to the Cardinals for a package of minor-leaguers that includes Sandy Alcantra, a pitcher who throws 100 mph and a prize the Giants could not match.

Marlins left fielder Marcell Ozuna is going to the Cardinals for a package of minor-leaguers that includes Sandy Alcantra, a pitcher who throws 100 mph and a prize the Giants could not match.

Photo: Jeff Roberson, AP

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Marcell Ozuna seems headed to St. Louis for a package of minor- leaguers.

Marcell Ozuna seems headed to St. Louis for a package of minor- leaguers.

Photo: Marc Serota, Getty Images

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Giants keep looking after Marlins deal outfielder Ozuna to Cardinals

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Hundley played an important role on a team whose catcher hits cleanup, so that would be significant. It still would not much dent the Giants’ biggest priorities: finding a defensive center fielder, boosting their offense by acquiring a corner outfielder and third baseman, and to a lesser extent, fortifying the bullpen.

Time remains on the Giants’ side because, notwithstanding the Ozuna deal, the winter meetings have been relatively quiet aside from a bevy of expensive middle-relief signings. Position players are not coming off the board.

“I suspect it may be like a lot of winter meetings where clubs finish deals after they leave,” Evans said. “We’ll see.”

The Giants are expected to pursue free-agent third baseman Todd Frazier and outfielder Jay Bruce. They have tried to work a trade with the Reds for center fielder Billy Hamilton, though the teams are not close to agreeing on which players the Giants would send Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh outfielder Andrew McCutchen remains possible, although there has been no public evidence of significant discussions between the teams for the five-time All-Star.

The Giants and Brewers have spoken. Milwaukee has a big potential chip in right fielder Domingo Santana and is believed to have some interest in the better Giants prospects at the lower levels.

It’s hard to imagine the Brewers sending Santana to San Francisco without getting top prospect Heliot Ramos, and the Giants are reluctant to trade him. The Giants probably could get Keon Broxton, the Brewers’ defensive-minded center fielder, for less.

The Ozuna deal closed one outfield door for the Giants but might have opened another. The Cardinals, who have a surplus of outfielders, are expected to shop Randal Grichuk, a 26-year-old with some pop, the ability to play all three positions and three remaining years of team control.

Evans said he is unsure if the Giants have a better shot of filling their needs through free agency or trade, but the latter is challenging because the Giants are not keen on dealing their best prospects, especially Ramos. Evans said asking prices are still high at this stage of the postseason.

Though fans are getting impatient and view the Giants as scrambling to fill their roster after losing out on Stanton and pitcher Shohei Ohtani, Evans argued otherwise, saying those players were a “bonus plan.”

Now, Evans said, the Giants have returned to “Plan A,” pursuing the players they initially identified as targets.

The Giants are eager to deal, but Evans said he will not be rushed.

“If the best deal comes before the winter meetings end, or in January, we want to make the right deal,” he said. “That’s the important thing. We have to be clear what the right deals are and not jump at something because we want to hit some deadline.”